Tag Archives: venture

Social media can be such a time suck. I won’t say how many times I found myself staring pointlessly at a computer screen while my daughter’s napping – ignoring all the other productive things I could be doing – and that’s mostly because there are too many to count. On the more positive side, social media and networking can also open up a whole new world to you, filled with people, things and food that you were unaware that even existed. As a stay-at-home mom, I don’t get to venture out to find new things like I used to, and I rely primarily on my social feeds to deliver them right to me via my phone or computer.

Such is the case with all the finds I have for this week:

Image from Sacramento Flea Market

Sacramento is getting a Flea Market! Opening in January 2015, there is over 16,000 square feet of indoor and over 20,000 square feet of outside vending. There will be new and used stuff, produce, food and drinks and even live music on the weekends! Triple score! Oh, and the entrance, parking and even the concerts are all free. Yes. I’m so excited to see how this progresses and I’ve already got my list ready.

Image from Hops and Dots

I am really digging how the craft beer scene in Sacramento is expanding, and this also includes craft beer bloggers. Hops and Dots is a beer blog run by Nat, who covers breweries in Sacramento and beyond. I was introduced to her blog by Beers in Sac by way of Facebook, and I’m so happy that I found it.

Image from NellieBellie

I spent a good while looking up sugar free cakes on Pinterest yesterday. Not because I’m on a sugar-free kick – that would mean I would have to give up the pints of ice cream and cookies I’ve been devouring lately – but because my brother can’t have sugar. And it happens to be his birthday next weekend, so I’ve decided to make him a cake. This might be the first nice thing I’ve done for him. I love this recipe from NellieBellie because I can use pumpkin (it calls for butternut squash or pumpkin – and pumpkin wins all, for me) and it’s all real ingredients – no fake sugar stuff over here! It looks super delicious.

Deciding to go to school for graphic design has probably been the biggest help in my creative business venture. I got interested in Adobe Illustrator a couple years ago, and messed around with it a little. But it always felt like too big of a monster for me to tackle, and I never got the hang of it.

Now that I’m taking a very basic graphic design class, I’m learning so many tools, and feeling like maybe I can chew off a little more of that gargantuan monster. I have been working on a logo design for baby burrito collective, and really wanted to use the watercolor effect. I’m not sure that font is going to stay, but I wanted to share my very, very rough draft with you.

Again, this a very rough draft. It could go an entirely different route. Who knows! I’m going to make a flyer with basic info for the collective, so the design of the logo may depend on that a little. You can tell by that design alone how excited I am to finally grasp the watercolor tool. And I really love circles, apparently.

We also got Heather’s massage how-to book in Massage Magazine, which is pretty danged exciting! We’re looking towards other promotional avenues, including speaking to massage schools and visiting day spas and such, so I’m thrilled to see where this new venture will take us.

Always working, Heather also wrote another book called Scout and Ellie, which is more geared toward grade school children, and is about a boy with an elephant in his backyard. Since I happen to be a mama and happen to know a few mama bloggers, I’m hoping to partner up with a couple for some awesome giveaways! I want to get the baby burrito site done before that though.

Speaking of the site, I am doing it all DIY style and plan on sharing my experience along the way. Everyone has told me that I need to invest in web and graphic design, but since I have near nothing to design, I’m doing it all on my own, purchasing a few very inexpensive graphics and fonts along the way.

Aside from that, my crafty friend Kandyce and I have decided to go into business together! We will be pretty much doing what we already do, just under my Sweet Mariposa name. We went antiquing last week and ended up finding a store that offers space to rent for upcyclers like us! The rent is inexpensive at $65 per month, split between the two of us, and we hope to check out craft fairs as well.

I get such a rush from going to antique fairs, street fairs and the like, I think I have found a hobby that I truly, truly enjoy. I haven’t really worked on any projects because I need to go to the hardware store this weekend to get some essentials. But of course, I will be sharing them with you soon! The shop is very small right now, but I hope to expand soon.

Are you on a creative business journey? Share your experience with us here and on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram with the hashtag #creativebusinessjourney. You can also find more inspiration on my Pinterest.We can all learn and grow from other people’s experiences and teachings. This is a huge reason why I started my Meet the Maker series. If enough people are interested, I’m hoping to turn this into some sort of group where we can all share successes, failures, tips and lessons learned from starting our own businesses from scratch.